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Archive for May, 2018

Chad and I lit out for Cincinnati and the experience that is Geowoodstock after work on Friday. It was a slog of a trip after work, but even with a food stop, Chad managed to beat Google’s predicted time of arrive. We rolled into the campground at 10:47 pm to find the greeting committee awaiting our arrive, and the tent and air mattress ready for a good night of sleep!

We were up bright and early since the birds and sun left us little choice. It worked out for the best, because instead of Geowoodstock starting at 10:00 am as originally planned, it was bumped up to 9:00 am. A fact we learned when all the phones started beeping amid the stunned pre-coffee silence.

Geowoodstock was HOT. Insanely hot, even at that early hour. The good news was Cooney Island had plenty of pavilions to provide shade. However, we felt compelled to walk around getting the Lab Caches. Which meant we were mostly covered in a layer of sunblock, then bug spray, then sweat, then whatever dirt had stuck to the sweat.

After a delicious BBQ lunch, our merry group split up – the Bumps seeking relief from the heat back at the campground, which Chad, Kris, Marlene, Keith & I decided to go caching, despite the ominous clouds heading our way. We picked what appeared to be a nice little park with a loop trail and a variety of caches and headed off. Before we even got to the trailhead, Kris had found a rather nice walking stick with a carved wooden raccoon head.

So….the trails on Google Maps did not exactly match up with reality. And the Garmin maps showed no trails. Which left us flailing at certain points and finally, on the final push to finish up and get the hell out of the park before the impending storm hit, off on some game trail that was leading back to one of the trails we’d started on. While that was great to get to the cars, it was not so good for the caches that ended up eluding us.

The Night

There were three night caches to tackle within miles (but not within minutes) of our campsite. There were two traditionals, with half the coordinates to a third in each. So we headed out to the parking – located by an RC field, where we impatiently waited for the flyers to finish up. After all, the sign stated that the field closed at dusk. Which was now, right? Like 8:30? Clearly it had to be dusk already.

Headlights bobbled down the road, as our debate about the definition of dusk was heating up. We had still not come to a satisfying conclusion about the time of dusk, since there were so many types. (Astronomical Dusk will be the name of my band, fyi.) We were soon joined by three cachers from Puerto Rico who’d had the same caches in their sights. When you’re a cacher, it’s not that insane to trundle off in the dark into the woods with complete strangers.

Off we marched through the sloppy wooded terrain, the start of the trail being immediately up, slightly dicey bit of footing. Then once on top, cross a ditch that mostly required going INTO the ditch, before scrambling up and hoping you weren’t covered in mud when you emerged. The fire tacks were well placed and easy to track. The terrain? Ah yes. Downed trees, poison ivy, mud, hills, pointy things. The usual. And on we went, crossing ditches, going up only to come back down. Rinse and repeat.

At long last we hit the last set of fire tacks and then had to do the hocus pocus magic of projecting a waypoint to the final location. So picture it, eight people searching in the dark by flashlights, trampling through the woods, tripping over tree debris, looking for….we did not know! Until finally, “GOT IT!” One down.

Now from there, it was a matter of going down the hill, back across the flying field, and up a different hill. Of course. We could see flashlights bobbing around in the woods, as we approached the start of the cache. Clearly we weren’t the only ones who thought tonight was a great night for night caching!

Cache #2 was more of the same, but worse. More mud, more slipping, more up and down on trails that were dicey, at best. So basically, fun. At the super weird tree, we ran into the cachers we’d been following. They seemed somewhat flummoxed. Eventually they headed out. We waited until they were well on their way, before projecting a waypoint and trying to figure out what in the hell we were supposed to do.

As we made the final push up the hill to what should be the final, the aforementioned cachers passed us on their way back, saying, “Thank you for letting us have this experience.” Ok, then. We weren’t actively trying to be that nice. We were just trying to not overwhelm them with our group of eight.

It was not easy to find the final. Not. Easy. The deal was we found a smilie face made from fire tacks and the instructions said the cache was within 30 feet of this tree. In the dark. In a forest. It was not a quick search. Fortunately Aquacache came up with the final, to the entire group’s great relief.

Log signed, we trooped back down the hill to the cars, taking the most direct route. Because that is what you do when you’ve been hiking through the woods in the dark for hours.

After a brief discussion – “What? It’s 11 already?” – we decided that the final was best left for the next night. Which of course we never managed to pull off!